[common] 1. To intentionally
delete the entire contents of a given directory or storage volume.
"On Unix, rm -r /usr will nuke everything in the usr
filesystem." Never used for accidental deletion; contrast
blow away. 2. Syn. for dike, applied to smaller things
such as files, features, or code sections. Often used to express a
final verdict. "What do you want me to do with that 80-meg
wallpaper file?" "Nuke it." 3. Used of processes as well
as files; nuke is a frequent verbal alias for kill -9 on
Unix. 4. On IBM PCs, a bug that results in fandango on core
can trash the operating system, including the FAT (the in-core copy
of the disk block chaining information). This can utterly scramble
attached disks, which are then said to have been `nuked'. This
term is also used of analogous lossages on Macintoshes and other
micros without memory protection.

A slangverb meaning "to cook in a microwave oven", probably arising from the popular conception that microwaves involve dangerous radioactivity. Fortunately, unlike atomic weapons, nuking with a microwave generally results in warm food instead of the grisly, levelled remains of human civilization. (Although applying the latter name to the concept of "microwave pizza" is, on a metaphorical level, probably more accurate than not.)